# ENTERPRISE PRODUCTS OPERATING LLC — Hazardous liquid — incident on 2020-08-21

- **operation:** document
- **citation:** PHMSA Report 20200256
- **title:** ENTERPRISE PRODUCTS OPERATING LLC — Hazardous liquid — incident on 2020-08-21
- **source type:** incident
- **agency:** Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
- **status:** historical
- **official:** true
- **published on:** 2020-09-18
- **effective on:** 2020-08-21
- **summary:** Hazardous liquid incident in CORPUS CHRISTI, NUECES County, TX. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 5 fatalities, 4 injuries, 6024 HVL OR OTHER FLAMMABLE OR TOXIC FLUID WHICH IS A GAS AT AMBIENT CONDITIONS released, $1,900,000 reported property damage. Operator-reported incident data submitted to PHMSA, generally within 30 days. Records may be supplemented or corrected and do not represent final agency causal findings. PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, serious incident.
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**body:**

Hazardous liquid incident in CORPUS CHRISTI, NUECES County, TX. Reported cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE. Reported consequences: 5 fatalities, 4 injuries, 6024 HVL OR OTHER FLAMMABLE OR TOXIC FLUID WHICH IS A GAS AT AMBIENT CONDITIONS released, $1,900,000 reported property damage. Operator-reported incident data submitted to PHMSA, generally within 30 days. Records may be supplemented or corrected and do not represent final agency causal findings.

Report number: 20200256.

Operator ID: 31618.

Reported incident date: 8/21/2020 8:02.

Location detail: 171+97

Cause detail: EXCAVATION DAMAGE BY THIRD PARTY

Cause detail: MISCELLANEOUS ROOT CAUSES

Cause detail: ROOT CAUSE NOT LISTED (COMMENT REQUIRED)

Cause detail: IN JUNE 2020, ENTERPRISE BECAME AWARE THAT ORION MARINE GROUP (ORION) WAS CONTRACTED BY EPIC MIDSTREAM TO CONSTRUCT A BULKHEAD AND BARGE DOCK IN THE TULE LAKE CHANNEL. THE BULKHEAD CONSTRUCTION WOULD INVOLVE ADDING 5' OF COVER OVER ENTERPRISE'S LINE 219. THROUGH COMMUNICATIONS AND CONVERSATIONS WITH ORION PERSONNEL IN JUNE AND JULY 2020, ENTERPRISE WAS TOLD THE DREDGING ACTIVITIES IN THE CHANNEL WOULD BE APPROXIMATELY 60' OFF THE SHORELINE. ON 7/16/20, ENTERPRISE AND ORION PERSONNEL MET AT THE WORKSITE. WHEN THE GROUP ARRIVED, CANE POLES INSTALLED IN 2019 TO MARK LINE 219 WERE STILL PRESENT IN THE WATER. ALTHOUGH THE CURRENT SCOPE OF WORK DIDN'T INVOLVE DREDGING WITHIN 50' OF LINE 219, ENTERPRISE MARKED LINE 219 AS A COURTESY BECAUSE ORION MAY NEED TO PLACE AN ANCHOR IN THE VICINITY OF LINE 219. ENTERPRISE LOCATED AND MARKED LINE 219 ON THE SHORELINE AND, FOR THE PORTIONS OF LINE 219 IN THE WATER, ENTERPRISE SUPPLEMENTED THE EXISTING CANE POLES WITH CANE POLES PROVIDED BY ORION. THE CANE POLES WERE PLACED ~5' TO ~10' AWAY FROM LINE 219 (CLOSER TO THE WORK AREA) TO PROVIDE A "BUFFER" BETWEEN THE WORK AREA AND LINE 219. DURING THIS MEETING, ORION CONFIRMED THAT NO WORK WOULD BE PERFORMED NEAR LINE 219, AND ENTERPRISE INSTRUCTED ORION TO CONTACT THEM IF THERE WERE ANY CHANGES IN THE PLANS. ON 8/21/20 AT 8:02 AM, ENTERPRISE'S CONTROLLER RECEIVED AN ALARM INDICATING LOW PRESSURE AT VIOLA STATION. AT 8:05 AM, THE CONTROL VALVE AT VIOLA STATION, LOCATED DOWNSTREAM OF METER 1004, AUTOMATICALLY CLOSED. AT ~8:07 AM, THE VIOLA METER REGISTERED NO FLOW ON THE PIPELINE. AT 8:09 AM, ENTERPRISE CONTROLLER CALLED LOCAL OPERATIONS TECHNICIANS TO INVESTIGATE THE CAUSE OF THE LOSS OF PRESSURE. BETWEEN ~8:30 AM AND ~8:45 AM, OPERATIONS TECHNICIANS ARRIVED AT VIOLA STATION (UPSTREAM OF THE INCIDENT SITE) AND ORIGIN STATION (DOWNSTREAM OF THE INCIDENT SITE) TO MANUALLY CLOSE VALVES AT BOTH LOCATIONS TO ISOLATE THE PIPELINE. AT 9:05 AM, VALVES AT CANTWELL STATION (UPSTREAM OF ORIGIN STATION) WERE CLOSED TO FURTHER ISOLATE THE PIPELINE. AT 9:47 AM, PIPELINE CONTROL RECEIVED A CALL FROM THE PORT OF CORPUS CHRISTI NOTIFYING THEM THAT A DREDGING OPERATION HAD STRUCK A PIPELINE AND THERE WAS A FIRE. AT ~9:53 AM, LOCAL ENTERPRISE OPERATIONS CONFIRMED, BASED ON AVAILABLE INFORMATION, THAT LINE 219 WAS STRUCK BY A 3RD PARTY. NRC WAS CALLED AT 10:12 AM AND REPORT TAKEN AT 10:52 AM. NRC UPDATES: #1285319 (48-HR UPDATE) AND #1285505. TRRC WAS NOTIFIED AT 10:18 AM (INCIDENT #2251). ON 8/24/20, AN UNDERWATER INSPECTION FOUND EVIDENCE OF MECHANICAL DAMAGE AND TWO PUNCTURES IN THE PIPELINE. THE DAMAGED PIPELINE WAS CUT OUT AND REPLACED AND THE PIPELINE RETURNED TO SERVICE ON 10/22/20. ENTERPRISE AND OTHER PARTIES PARTICIPATED IN THE NTSB'S INVESTIGATION OF THE ACCIDENT. THE NTSB CONCLUDED THE CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT WAS DUE TO ORION'S INADEQUATE PLANNING AND RISK MANAGEMENT PROCESSES FAILED TO IDENTIFY THE PROXIMITY OF THEIR DREDGING OPERATION TO ENTERPRISE'S PIPELINE AND RESULTED IN THE ABSENCE OF EFFECTIVE CONTROLS TO PREVENT THE DREDGE'S CUTTERHEAD FROM STRIKING THE PIPELINE. THE REPORT IS AVAILABLE AT HTTPS://WWW.NTSB.GOV/INVESTIGATIONS/PAGES/DCA20FM026.ASPX NOTES: A5: SURVEYED ON 9/24/20. A18B: THIS WAS THE ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL OF THE OPERATIONS TECHNICIAN AT VIOLA STATION BASED ON PHONE LOG. B11A: THE DEPTH OF WATER OVER THE PIPELINE VARIES BASED ON TIDE LEVELS. C6: THERE WERE TWO PUNCTURES AT THE 6 O'CLOCK POSITION OF VARYING SIZES (7" X 5" AND 5" X 2.5"). G3.9: ORION WAS NOT WORKING FOR ENTERPRISE. G3.10-11: THE WORK BEING PERFORMED AT THE TIME WAS DREDGING. G3.12-15: THE ONE-CALL TICKET WAS CLEARED BY ENTERPRISE BASED ON INFORMATION PROVIDED BY ORION STATING THE WORK WOULD BE ~60' FROM THE SHORELINE. AFTER THE TICKET WAS CLEARED, ENTERPRISE AGREED TO COURTESY MARK THE PIPELINE IN RESPONSE TO ORION'S CONCERN ABOUT THE PLACEMENT OF ANCHORS.

PHMSA trend classification: significant incident, serious incident.

PHMSA standardized cause: EXCAVATION DAMAGE — THIRD PARTY EXCAVATION DAMAGE.

PHMSA indexed costs: $2,023,000 reported total cost, $935,399.965 in 1984 dollars, $2,303,602.23 in current-year dollars.

PHMSA trend flags, standardized causes, and indexed costs are analytical fields added to operator-reported incident data. They do not represent final agency causal findings.
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